SAY HELLO
SAY HELLO
CARLY FINDLAY in conversation with DINESH PALIPANA
Carly Findlay OAM is an award-winning writer, speaker and appearance activist. Her first book, a memoir called Say Hello, was released in January 2019. A forthright, honest and rousingly triumphant memoir from a woman who has to live with a highly visible different appearance due to a rare skin condition. Say hello to Carly.
‘In fairytales, the characters who look different are often cast as villains or monsters. It’s only when they shed the unconventional skin that they are seen as “good” or less frightening. There are very few stories where the character that looks different is the hero of the story … I’ve been the hero of my storytelling it on my own terms, proud of my facial difference and disability, not wanting a cure for my rare, severe and sometimes confronting skin condition, and knowing that I am beautiful even though I don’t have beauty privilege.’This honest, outspoken, and thought-provoking memoir by award-winning writer and appearance activist Carly Findlay will challenge all your assumptions and beliefs about what it is like to have a visibly different appearance. Carly lives with a rare skin condition, Ichthyosis, and what she faces every day, and what she has to live with, will have you cheering for her and her courage and irrepressible spirit. This is both a moving memoir and a proud manifesto on disability and appearance diversity issues.
‘Believe the hype – by turns frank, funny, and fearsome, Findlay’s extraordinary memoir is an early contender for 2019’s best Australian non-fiction … a powerful and moving invitation to examine the structures of privilege and dehumanisation that we so desperately need to address in this country.’ Better Read Than Dead’
A proud celebration of appearance difference … a valuable read.’ Herald Sun’Defiant, unsettling and thought-provoking’ The Age.
ABOUT CARLY FINDLAY: Carly edited the anthology Growing Up Disabled in Australia with Black Inc Books. It’s in stores now.
She writes on disability and appearance diversity issues for news outlets including ABC, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, and SBS.In 2020, Carly Findlay received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her work as a disability advocate and activist.
Carly works part time as Access Advisor at Melbourne Fringe. She has appeared on You Can’t Ask That and Cyberhate with Tara Moss, The Project, The Drum, and The Cook Up, and has been a regular on various ABC radio programs. She has spoken at the Melbourne Writers Festival, the University of Western England, and Melbourne University – to name a few. She organised the history-making Access to Fashion – a Melbourne Fashion Week event featuring disabled models. She has a Masters of Communication and a Bachelor of eCommerce. Carly identifies as a proud disabled woman – she lives with a rare, severe skin condition, ichthyosis. She organised Australia’s first Ichthyosis meet in 2015 – bringing together 75 people affected by the rare, severe skin condition Ichthyosis. 25 attendees had Ichthyosis. Friendships and support networks were formed.
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